Siemens Gamesa has reached an agreement with employees at the Aoiz blade factory in the Navarra region of Spain over the planned closure of the plant.
The company said the agreement was approved by 78% of employees in a vote at an assembly on Saturday.
The deal will limit the impact of the factory closure on employees, as committed to by the company when negotiations started a month ago, Siemens Gamesa said.
It includes an early retirement scheme for employees who are 55 or older, as well as a severance package with a redundancy payment of 45 days a year – over the 20 days the law indicates – with a minimum redundancy payment of €30,000.
In addition, the company has offered a relocation plan for 88 positions.
“If all positions are covered, the total number of employees affected by the dismissal procedure will be reduced to 150,” Siemens Gamesa said.
The company added that a consultancy hired by Siemens Gamesa has already identified positions in other companies that are suitable for Aoiz employees.
“Siemens Gamesa is satisfied to have reached an agreement that limits the impact of the dismissal procedure, but recognises that this action has tough consequences for the employees finally affected,” the company said.
“The company has examined carefully every option before taking this difficult decision but concluded there is no alternative,” it added.
One of the unions representing workers at the plant ELA did not support the deal.
ELA said it regretted the “inability of the government of Navarra to seek alternatives to the closure of the company”.
It added that ELA is “committed to continue fighting for the maintenance of employment and for the consolidation of industrial projects that guarantee fair working conditions”.
ELA and other unions had questioned Siemens Gamesa’s economic arguments for closing the plant.
On 1 July, Siemens Gamesa announced its plans to close the plant, which it said was no longer competitive to produce blades for large turbines.